With the Japanese launch of the 3DS by Nintendo now in the books, the numbers are much better than anyone had expected. Nintendo claims to have moved 400,000 units, which includes the pre-orders that retailers already had for the system.

While the North American launch of the 3DS isn’t happening till March 27th, lines in Japan were said to be over 2,000 people deep at some stores. While we doubt that the North American launch will produce demand and lines that long in the U.S., analysts we have spoken with over the weekend claim that the 3DS exceeded their expectations, which they believe could be a very good sign for the launch numbers in North America.

While buyers in the U.S. will be paying $349 for the 3DS, it seems that 3D and backward compatibility seem to be the major reason that got buyers to purchase a 3DS in Japan. We will have to see how well Nintendo can do in North America; but we believe that more titles are critical and it is still uncertain exactly how many titles will be available on launch day here. Nintendo is said to be committed to getting as many titles out as possible.